Water pressure may drop during test for emergency repair
Water may also be rusty during Friday's test of fix for East Bay Pipeline
EAST PROVIDENCE — City residents may see a drop in pressure or discoloration of their water on Friday during tests of an emergency interconnection that the Bristol County Water Authority may need because of a leak in its pipeline.
The BCWA was notified on Tuesday of water coming up in a parking lot at the Port of Providence. After confirming the presence of a leak through its monitoring system, the authority traced the source to the East Bay Pipeline, the underground conduit that supplies water to Barrington, Bristol and Warren.
Service to the three East Bay communities hasn’t been affected by the leak, which doesn’t appear to be worsening, but officials said on Thursday that the connection to East Providence’s water distribution system may be needed when repairs take place.
The connection was installed several years ago but it has never been used. So at 10 a.m. on Friday, the city will conduct a test run that, if all goes well, should wrap up by 2 p.m.
It may affect water pressure, particularly in the Riverside section of the city, because of the change in flow patterns. Additionally, water may be discolored because of rust in the cast-iron pipes used for the connection. Officials said Thursday that the water will be safe to use even if it may be discolored. Workers will open up fire hydrants to flush out the system during the test.
“This is our first time testing the system,” said East Providence Mayor Roberto DaSilva. “We’re not entirely sure what’s going to happen. So, hopefully, there's minimal disruption to people."
Completed in 1998, the East Bay Pipeline crosses the Providence River, bringing water from the Providence Water system. Pam Marchand, executive director of the Bristol County Water Authority, said it could be weeks until the pipeline is repaired.
The BCWA still has to pinpoint the leak, which is believed to be in a 500-foot stretch of the pipeline. Marchand characterized the leak as “minor” and said it may be in a weld in the line. But because the pipeline is buried 8 to 14 feet deep, finding and fixing it will be difficult.
“We are engaging engineering consultants and pipeline inspection consultants to determine the best methods to proceed with location and possible repair techniques,” the water authority said in a statement.
Until those questions are answered, it’s unclear if the water authority will need to use the interconnection with East Providence, said Marchand.
“Until we can determine exactly what the leak is, we’re not sure what the repair is. There are some repairs that can be done without a shutdown, in which case we wouldn’t need it. But in a case where we did have to shut down the main, we would need a back-up,” she said.
Although the BCWA has the back-up agreement with the East Providence system, the interconnection isn’t large. The authority is working on a proposal to connect to the Pawtucket system as an alternative.
East Providence also gets its water from the Providence Water system, but has a separate cross-river pipeline. DaSilva said that if the East Providence pipeline were to experience problems, the situation would be more serious, because the reciprocal connection to the Bristol County system isn’t sufficient to bring the city’s system up to full pressure.
“That’s why we are working with the Bristol County water supply to put in a secondary source of water,” he said. “It is vitally important for our community, as well as their community, for any type of situation of this nature.”
— akuffner@providencejournal.com
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On Twitter: @KuffnerAlex